When a band like the Dillinger Escape Plan is able to duplicate the intensity of the previous album, yet at the same time create music that actually possesses (gasp!) commercial appeal, daring to cause an uproar among dyed-in-the-wool hardcore fans, you know they're on to something memorable.

The last 10 or so minutes of the CD veer between bursts of riff noise more smoothly recorded than expected and washes of music to watch soft porn by, indicating the charm of being proudly abrasive and busy is wearing off.

Intense, technically brilliant, and near-unforgettable, Miss Machine is an essential purchase - though Creed fans and those who don't Intense, technically brilliant, and near-unforgettable, Miss Machine is an essential purchase - though Creed fans and those who don't like to be challenged can stay far away. Rather than try to top their infamous 1999 debut, Calculating Infinity, Dillinger opt instead to streamline and develop their assault, adding industrial elements and some clean singing to flesh things out. These changes might turn off some hardline fans, but most will be rightfully spellbound. Bonus: "Phone Home", the best Nine Inch Nails song Trent Reznor never wrote.…Expand

TDEP on a leash. I really wanted to rate this album an 8.5; the rating system, however, just like the album didn't give me much option TDEP on a leash. I really wanted to rate this album an 8.5; the rating system, however, just like the album didn't give me much option to really justify a 9.0 score. This is not a bad album, not by a long shot. It will probably also be somewhere in my top albums of the year. It is a refreshing, cacaphonic burst of sonic madness. A fullblown assault on the very core, the essence if you will, of most living beings, and it will severely shock most people upon first listening. It is a good solid album from TDEP, which, in all honesty, can't be compared with any band, except to its catalog. These guys have an instantly identifiable sound and style, are inspire people, and their impact has yet to be seen and appreciated. Here is where the criticism begins: compared with their previous outings and the leaps they made while making those albums (well, one album and a few EPs), MM does dissapoint. It is simply not TDEP at their best, period. Sure the album sounds good, but it?s absolutely a step backwards and that for a band whose blinders were always set on forward. I will not waste my time with explaining or plugging the back catalog, but their first full-length Calculating Infinity (1999) is just incredible (though sometimes I don?t ?feel? the vocals) and you can hear copycats ?inspired? by CC a mile away, and on The Mike Patton EP (irony is not a dead scene) they redefined themselves and pushed themselves to the next level. On MM the songs are more structured (not a bad thing necessarily) and Greg (the 'new' singer) prefers a singing style leaning towards hardcore, more in the style of Calulating Infinity. The end result, however, just doesn?t sound like the next level. The structuring of the songs (easier identifiable as a song) makes them sound as if they had barriers, hindered in some way. This combined with the hardcore-leaning vocals result in listening to a sort of castrated Calculating infinity; not because of the apparent less brutal sound, but because the band as whole leans towards that kind of sound, whereas with the IINADS EP the reinvented themselves. They still have the killer tunes (e.g., Panasonic Youth), but the overall impact is somehow not the same. One used to listen for hours to the albums trying to hear hidden sounds, overlapping riffs, and trying to find a structure, now it is practically on a plate. The Mike Patton EP (Irony is not a dead scene) was supposed to be bridge to MM, but in the end MM sounds more like a bridge album. Whereas TDEP normally sounds without boundaries, MM just sounds more confined, TDEP on a leash. But TDEP is still a thouroughbred. If you like TDEP, try this and don?t waste your time with anything else: Mastodon, Cephalic Carnage, Nasum, Mike Patton?s back catalog, Tzadik records, The Boredoms, The Ruins, Melt Banana, even try John Zorn, Zappa, Avant-garde, Acid Jazz. …Expand